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Addiction: Power, Influence, Money

and the Little Boy with his finger stuck in the Dam.

“"Power Corrupts. Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely."

- Lord Acton

Talk about addictions of power and material greed. How the RWCC (make a military logo patch here) is beded with huge corporations against it's citizens and how the RWCC doesn't even try to dispute it. Kind of like Brittney Spears. Cite examples of Media companies, Pharmaseudicals and the Medicare Drug benefit give-a-way, Banks, Real Estate, etc. Classic Regan Pattern emergin g again, both in the citizenry and in the business envirionment.

POWER: Same old Addiction it always was…

We've all seen it before: Mediocre young man (or woman as the case may be) "with so much potential," goes down the wrong fork in the road leading to a nice little drug addiction. We blame their parents, friends, jobs, and bad investments - whatever. We all look back in a state of despair and regret and say things like, "He/She could have been so much more, if just…." - or - "They were so talented. What a waste. If just…." In this case, however, we are not just talking about any of the clichéd addictions such as: Booze, gambling, cocaine, heroin, scripts, etc. No, this addiction is not part of the so-called "Drug Culture" that is so prevalent in politics, television and regarded as something prevalent ONLY in the lower echelons of lower-class city dwellers. No sir, this addiction has to do more with the "Hallowed Halls of Power and Money." You know the one's; the individuals that live north of town, have their own schools and public transportation is forbidden less than ten miles away.

I might even go so far as to state that this isn’t really a Power addiction as much as an Influence and Money addiction. Although the two do have a tendency to go hand and hand; that is another issue altogether. What were talking about here is the smoky room filled greed we've all been so attuned to desire (but upon closer examination cannot really remember exactly why) but will NEVER have access to. The addiction here (in this order) is influence, power and money. I know this is a VERY worn out subject, however that does NOT preclude its continued relevance in modern dialogue.

As a familiar point of reference, let's talk about our current administration and the mediocre individual whose face is in front of the camera. This is NOT a dumb man (as so many have tried to put forth). I dare say this is not even an evil man. This is an individual that has made a deal with the devil, so to speak, to get the opportunity to be the next "rock star." He is allowed the face time. He is allowed the pomp and the admiration of "millions of Americans." However (and this is important here people), he is NOT allowed an original thought or an opinion of his own. He is where he is because he is a team player and as such he is allowed to reap the rewards of a career of political servitude in the form of valuable dollars and power. However, the rules state that EVERYONE that got him there has to win as well. That's the price. That's the contract signed.

Power is NOT the primary goal of this administration; it's influence and money pure and simple. It's disguised under the much heralded auspicious of "American Interests" or to bring it closer to home, "threats to our individuals freedoms and way of life." I have always stated to my local group of sounding boards that this administrations outward "look" mimics a corporate board to a "T." That makes sense. The corporate culture and board mentality is the very background of a majority of members of this cabinet. Notice that any of the previous administrations (Clinton's) civil servants have and will continue to be run out of office systematically until they are all gone. This is not by accident. They never really held high positions to begin with. That way this administration can state for the investors (the constituency) that the adminstration at least tried to get along…

I know, for many of you it drives you nuts and makes you nautious. But I give you this thought to soothe your troubled soul: Make no bones about it…. This "Fairways and Greens" corporate business model to governmental affairs WILL be their undoing (More on this further in the paper).

But first, back to our original Drug Addiction metaphor. This administration and its ilk are the cousins, brothers, sisters, friends and in some cases, parents - fresh at home from a summer visit at the local rehab clinic. We are now all better able to call attention to and bring out in the open the elephant in the room that has occupied our eyeballs and thoughts for so long. You see, since we've "got our junior back," we are now able to forget about the last decade (and last administration) and get back on course. Now were allowed to say out loud, "Sure junior has done wrong in the past, but surely now that he's gotten help, things will be much better now." To quote the immortal words of Dennis Miller, "That's America. Addicted to the quick fix, and hopeful that the 'Big Lie' is in fact the 'Big truth."

Now here they are, right in front of you: Proof! Proof that the system really does work! Freshly tanned and glassy-eyed from their thinly hidden withdraw systems, they change the subject constantly, place the blame on others and constantly promise it's better now.

Now the loved one's (in this case the constituency) now want so badly to believe that this time it really will be different. That this time they really are "Clean and Sober." That the family is willing to allow any minor setback or occasional trip off the wagon. Surly just one "tiny" relapse won't affect the overall good this time… right?

Then, as time goes on, there's another… and another … and another… until the one-day you come home early and find yourself face to face with the elephants (this administration) hand in the purse… again (and we even chose not to tell the others that we had already noticed missing items - surly we simply misplaced it. We can be so absent minded).

And then it all snaps! The delicate fabric that has held all this together - rips.

The realization that this is a total stranger and not your friend hits like a thunderbolt and all hell breaks loose!

You see, this constituency and many in the world population know deep down that things just don't add up. They know that it was time to leave the party hours ago. Their gut told them so. However, the body knows differently and just like a majority of human beings (all from time to time)

THEY CAN'T STAND TO ADMIT THAT THEY HAVE BEEN TAKEN..… AGAIN!

This is not meant to criticize anyone or any group, this is just Human Nature. We're all humans, we can all relate. This is a statement meant to unite, initiate self-analysis and hopefully, contribute to some sort of real change.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me" (See, I got it right…;0). In other words loosing YOUR power (your voice in government) once was dumb. Loosing it twice is unacceptable!

Now let's really bring this concept home and wrap it all up.

You all remember the heady days of the 1995 - 2000 stock market run-up where trillions of dollars in wealth (and power) were - through simple but coordinated Wall Street hype - created virtually overnight. We'll the late 1990's stock market run-up is where we are with this administration and is a good example of how hard they will fall in the end. Remember how Internet dotcom's were the darlings of the industry despite their complete lack of earnings and tangibility (Give me a break! Buying groceries over the internet!), and remember how all the "little investors" - due simply to the hype and not-so sound fundamentals - dropped say, a cool 100K just to see it skyrocket and then fall with the thud to 50K, then 35K to 25K - virtually overnight. They weren't paying attention! Now instead of dumping those shares a long time ago and admitting they were wrong, they call into a radio show and ask the "next investment guru" if they should sell. They are promptly told to hang on longer, in fact BUY MORE! EVERYTHING is on the rebound and you don't want to miss the boat! You see, "This time it's different. We're right and there wrong!"

But instead of going with their gut and getting out, they doggedly maintain their position until every last penny (of trust) is gone and their advisor is being hauled off on television in hand cuffs.

And that is exactly what we have here people. Much like Enron, it's time to dump your shares in this administration and admit you were swindled and start to build yourself a defensible position for when the hammer really does come down. I speculate that if this current administration is re-elected (and sadly, I do believe it will) they will crumble internally by the spring/summer of 2006 (again another issue entirely)! Rest assured this style of government nationally and in the world politic is NOT sustainable. Again this adminstration is a veritable Enron or WorldCom. It will collapse. So watch your back.

Much like the "Tech Boom" of the late 90's, this administration had made it's mark on history with a finely mixed fountain pen cocktail of equal parts 1) continued spooking of Americans and the world body, 2) and heavy-handed "Democracy" (read: influence). Just look back to history for an example (I know we as Americans don't like to look back at anything that even remotely smacks of history), this administration managed to worm it's way into office by telling Americans how bad they really had it and how they were in the midst of a recession of unimaginable proportions. We need a tax cut - FAST (read: payoff) to alleviate this record budget SURPLUS!

And of course, look again at how this administration hyped it's way into a pre-emptive war (with hundreds of rationales: all correct and all wrong - depending on your view) with what can best be described - at that the date of invasion - as a 4th World Country. This adminstration did this by apparently convincing a "majority of Americans" that Iraq was such a threat that there was the very real possibility that you would wake up with one of them at the foot of your bed… tonight!

We all know better.

These are all the classic systems of addiction and denial. Look it up: Deceit, fantasy, greed, insecurity, fanaticism, and of course, redemption. So rest assured all you "Screeching Liberal Democrats," all you "Screeching Liberal Republicans" - and everyone else in between (bless you all!) - this fixing of the problem through "public hypnotism" will ultimately fail (around spring/summer 2006). This corporate governing of the United States of America will not work. Americans can't stand rich corporations! These rich corporations fly in the face of the "Rags-to-Riches" American ideals that Hollywood has imprinted in our frontal lobes that tells us all we have to do close our eyes, click our heels three times and say the words "I wish I were home" and it will come true. Look at the recent lynching of our beloved Wal-Mart. We hate them because we need them, but we sure as hell don't want one in our backyard!

The cracks are starting to show up all over the dam. And there are the participants of this administration frantically running all over the place plugging the holes with whatever they can get their hands on. Including even their hands, fingers, elbows, knees - you name it, it's all in there. But they are running out of "parts" and they are running out of time. The cracks are still forming all around them. I only hope that enough "free thinking Americans" individuals had enough common sense and followed their gut feeling and left the "party" early for home, before it got too rowdy. I only hope they had enough sense to go home in the dead of night and sandbag their homes during this time of "unparalleled prosperity" - to go against the grain (and popular opinion I might add) and protect their loved ones from one hell of a mother flood coming right at them!

But most importantly I hope they go home and look in the mirror with a little smile and know that they got "Got." And that it really sucks, but that's life in all its splendor.

Now what are you going to do about it?!